Clippers’ Blake Griffin day-to-day with ankle injury

Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin exited last night’s
contest against the Memphis Grizzlies in the third quarter due to a high ankle
sprain. The ailment has caused the Clippers to consider Griffin as day-to-day,
and he told reporters – including Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles – that the
injury got worse as the game went on.

"As the game went on, it got worse," Griffin said.
"I was in the weight room on the treadmill; they just had me walk just to
keep it loose and not just sit there."

Griffin initially sustained the injury during Monday’s
practice, but the team didn’t make this news public until just before tipoff
last night. Coach Vinny Del Negro said that it was a “freak accident” when
Griffin came down on the foot of teammate Lamar Odom during practice.

"It's an unfortunate thing that happened
yesterday," Del Negro said. "It's a freak accident that he came down
on Lamar's foot and got a bad ankle sprain. He's got a lot of swelling in there
but he got therapy all night and therapy all day and battled through it. He
came out in limited minutes and was active, but as the game went on, it got
worse and worse, and you could see him there in the third, he was struggling to
move a little bit, and that's when I pulled the plug on that. It just didn't
make sense. I really wanted to protect him and make sure he was all right, but
I give him a lot of credit for being out there."

Griffin started for the Clippers, but he was removed from
the contest with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter. He
re-entered the game in the second quarter, but he was playing with a noticeable
limp. Griffin again received treatment at halftime, but he was taken out with
just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter and did not return.

Entering Tuesday, Griffin wasn’t sure he would be able to
play. He was ultimately able to do so with the help of treatment, and he’s
holding out hope that he’ll be able to suit up for Friday’s Game 6.